After a seemingly endless wait for the show to get green the light, we're now charging full speed ahead toward our January production dates. This week, construction began on our standing sets. First up, our ship, The Raza, which will include the bridge, corridors, an infirmary, mess hall, training room, various corridors and airlocks. The…
October 28, 2014: Introducing Caitlin Brown!
"So what does Caitlin do?"I asked as part of my first day bid to know absolutely everything about absolutely everyone. "She's Head of Business Affairs,"I was told. "No, really." "Really." Really? Caitlin Brown was one of the very first people I'd met. She'd come into my office and chatted about film, television, and books (she's…
October 27, 2014: Introducing Elliot Sokolsky!
Remember the character of Radar O'Reilly in M*A*S*H*? Not the later naive Iowa farm boy he turned into, but the astute and wily operator we're initially introduced to - the clever contriver who could always manage to get his hands on the most elusive of items: chocolates, meds, a jeep. If you needed something, Radar…
September 4, 2014: The Game Plan!
Today, I completed a first draft of episode #12 in which the various arcs we develop over the course of the show's first season converge in a story about identity, loyalty, and friendship, culminating in a shocking conclusion that sets the stage for an even more shocking finale. It joins my first draft of episode…
July 30, 2014: Fade in…humor!
It NEVER gets any easier. Inevitably, the jubilation of convening with your fellow writers and hashing out a terrific story is extinguished by the prospect of having to actually write the damn script. You sit down, type FADE IN and then...What? Oh, you know what the scene is going to be (You just broke it the other…
July 28, 2014: 12 down! 1 to go!
Another day, another story. This episode, like episodes #7, 9, 10, and 11, was envisioned as a tough one that would take a couple of days to break. But, like episodes #7, 9, 10, and 11, we ended up breaking it over the course of a single day. And that leaves us with one final…
July 24, 2014: 10 down! 3 to go!
Today, we finished breaking episode #10 of my new SF series. It's a little rougher than the preceding stories with a few TBD's, but it's great fun and ends with a jaw-dropping sequence that will no doubt have this blog buzzing when it eventually airs. Can't wait until next year? Want a hint as to…
July 23, 2014: My favorite spaceships!
While we're on the subject... SUPER DIMENSIONAL FORCE MACROSS ANDROMEDA ASCENDANT STARBUG SERENITY THE BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO VORLON CRUISER MOYA STAR DESTROYER ASGARD SHIPS THE BEBOP ANCIENT AURORA CLASS BATTLESHIP THE ARCADIA THE USS SULACO THE MILLENNIUM FALCON THE DESTINY USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701 THE NOSTROMO KLINGON BIRD OF PREY ROMULAN WARBIRD
July 22, 2014: On ships and such!
Another day down, another story done. That makes 8 out of our 13 first season episodes broken in less than three weeks. I feared today's episode would prove tricky, but I got in early this morning and hashed out a rough outline. My writing partner, Paul (aka Captain Logic) had surprisingly few problems in the…
July 18, 2014: The Highs and Lows of the Writers’ Room!
The thing I miss most about my days on Stargate is the writers' room: the camaraderie, the laughs, the heated discussions and, every so often, the occasional creative accomplishments. Don't get me wrong. It was hard, sometimes frustrating work but, when all was said and done, they were productive sessions that generated some great television.…
June 25, 2014: Let’s kick off our Star Trek TOS re-watch with The Man Trap!
Hello and welcome to our Star Trek: The Original Series re-watch. Cookie Monster and I will be your co-hosts. We'll open the casual discussion on the show's first five episodes, then ask you to weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section. THE MAN TRAP Me: A rocky start for the Enterprise and its…
June 18, 2014: Join our Star Trek TOS re-watch!
Full disclosure: I haven't watched a full episode of Star Trek TOS since I was a kid. And, sure, we've come a long way since then and a lot of this old series will, no doubt, feel charmingly outdated by today's standards but, damn, if I don't feel a shiver of excitement every time I…
April 10, 2014: The Chinese foodless Vancouver Chinatown Tour! Our Stargate: Altantis re-watch continues with…The Shrine!
Last night, I met up with my foodie friend - Nicole, Lan, and Missy - for a little culinary tour of Chinatown. Nicole, our guide on this trek, had us hopping from one place to the next, covering four different places in which we sampled about a dozen different dishes... We met at The Pie…
April 8, 2014: Continuing our BOTMC discussion of Annihilation! Continuing our Stargate: Atlantis re-watch with…The Daedalus Variations!
Continuing our discussion of our April Book of the Month Club selection - Annihilation: vanderworld.com writes: "I wouldn’t normally comment, but…the next two novels are about 100,000 words each, which complicates things, and are *completely separate novels* in their own right, that interlock with Annihilation…they do not pick up the story right after the events in…
April 6, 2014: Vote for our next Book of the Month Club selection! Continuing our Stargate: Atlantis watch/rewatch – The Japanese Girlfriend Edition!
Cast your vote for our June Book of the Month Club pick! We've got a nice, wide-ranging selection this month: COLDBROOK by Tim Lebbon Coldbrook is a secret laboratory located deep in Appalachian Mountains. Its scientists had achieved the impossible: a gateway to a new world. Theirs was to be the greatest discovery in the…